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Create a "Common Language" Resource or Interface

Create a "Common Language" Resource or Interface for patients, providers, and insurance companies.

In a sense, patients are not in a position to be their own advocates, and need to be. Sometimes the reason a patient is not his/her own advocate is because they are in pain or unconscious. But I find that even when patients are coherent, they simply are not trained in the process of, or language of, the special jargon involved in medical care. For our own family, much of the time spent on the phone was simply understanding the "jargon" of the terminology used by the doctor trying to talk to us. We would go home and Google it afterwards, of course, but even then, frantic people don't know what's authoritative and what is quackery.

"If" there could be some sort of "shared" interface that a patient could consult, that provides perhaps a "matrix" of, the condition as referred to by a doctor, the "code" it involves, and a "what this means in plain English" type of column, with a "more details to an authoritative source" link for more information, we would in effect provide a way for everybody to get on the same page.

If a patient gets a bill with a code, that patient should be able to look up the code and see what it means in real life. That will also make the patient more "educated" and in a better position to be his own advocate.

Transition Back to Work

Providing light duty or part-time work, and partial disability payments during the transition back to work, can encourage workers to return earlier, minimizing the likelihood they will drop out of the workforce.

It can be a huge loss to lose an employee and it may become necessary to reassign duties to other workers or even bring in a replacement. Offering employers wage subsidies for workers or for accommodations is a promising strategy for facilitating return-to-work.

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Washington COHE Model

What would it take to adopt/adapt key components of the COHE model to address your state’s workers’ compensation program challenges? (Please consider the required policy changes, the key players that would need to be convinced, and the supports, resources or materials that would help address their concerns and overcome barriers.)